Gearlink Kawasaki News

The team was triumphant as fans returned to Brands Hatch with Eunan stealing the show, riding his way to not one, but two 3rd place podiums, his first for the team and in his first year in the Quattro British Supersport Championship.

Ben started the weekend well with two 3rd places in the free practice session whilst Eunan was in familiar territory with a top ten position.

In the qualifying session Eunan improved on his position to take 9th place on the grid for race 1 with Ben just missing out on a front row position to take 6th place on the grid.

Following an incident involving Bennetts British Superbike rider Brad Jones, race 1 was postponed. The re started race was then red flagged and a decision made to postpone further until the following day.

The shortened 10 lap Race 1 saw Ben get off to a great start quickly moving up to 4th place by the third corner of the opening lap but unfortunately was forced onto the grass to avoid a crashed rider which moved him back to 9th place. He managed to fight his way back to finish in a creditable 6th place and 4th in class.

Meanwhile Eunan was in stealth mode moving through the field to finish in a fantastic 3rd place to earn his maiden trophy for the team.

Race 2 was a different story as the sky became more overcast with rain in the air, a riders and team's worst nightmare. Both riders got off to a good start from 8th and 9th on the grid. However, the rain soon started falling forcing a red flag with riders coming into pit lane to change tyres.

A shortened race of just 8 laps was announced and with the rain still falling was declared a wet race.

Eunan again had a good start and quickly moved up to 4th place.  He soon faced his team mate and knew if he made a move it would have to be good, which it was, as he slipped past Ben and then defended his line as Ben attempted a move. In the penultimate lap they were both passed but they were still fighting for that third place with Eunan just pipping Ben by .2 sec to take a second podium place in an action packed race.

Eunan McGlinchey - "We struggled early in the weekend to find the right set up and enough pace. But we improved at each session and moved up the order. By the time the races came we were ready to battle at the front and as the weather deterioated had to adapt to conditions lap by lap. Very happy to bring it home in P3 for the team. The second race started in the the dry but was soon red flagged as the rain came down. In the limited time available a big push was required to get the bike changed for a wet set up. Was happy in the race but we had some technical issues which prevented me from battling for the win but still pleased to get some more points and another podium for the team. A massive thanks to the team for all their hard work all weekend."

Ben Currie - "It was a positive weekend with a really good feeling on the bike in the dry conditions. Our results didn't show the pace we had but it is good to have the confidence moving forward. A pair of 4th places is a tough pill to swallow with some things not going our way. Cannot wait for Thruxton now to see what we can do. Huge thanks to all the boys for all their hard wotk, let's keep going"

We are now looking forward to seeing all our fans at our home round at Thruxton.

The team headed north for round 2  of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship with both riiders ready to take on the 1.2669 mile track in a shortened and more compact weekend of just 2 days. The Saturday was particularly challenging having to complete 4 sessions in the Quattro British Supersport Championship including the sprint race.

Ben got off to a great start in both practice sessions with good consistent lap times and was just pipped for 5th place in the qualifying session placing him P6 on the grid for race 1.

Eunan had sufferred with arm pump during round 1 and had been working hard prior to this meeting at Knockhill to overcome it. It was a case of pain management during this compacted timetable. He continued to improve his lap times throughout the sessions to qualify in 9th position on the grid for the first race.

It looked as though the weather may play a part for race 1 but the team took the chance to run on slick tyres.

Ben got off to a great start moving up to 5th place by turn 4 and was in a continual battle to improve his position further. On the last lap one of the front runners was in trouble enabling Ben to achieve a well deserverd 4th place.

Eunan stormed off the line with a great start moving into 10th place and by lap 5 was in P8 where he remained until the finish.

Race 2 brought the possibility of mixed weather but fortunately it was dy for the race.

Ben started from P5 on the grid and after a great start soon moved up to 4th. After much battling he was unfortunately pushed out rejoining the race in 14th position. It would prove to be an impossible task to get back to the leaders but still managed to claw back up to 11th position over the finishing line.

Eunan had a very different race starting from P8 on the grid, his best start with the team. At one point he had moved into 5th place but a combination of the return of his arm pump and brake issues meant he finished in 7th place, still an excellent result.

We will be back out at the next round at Brands Hatch hoping for better things and looking forward to a return of racing in front of our fans and hopefully a full capacity crowd.

What a great start to the Bennetts British Superbike Championship for the team with both riderrs solidifying top 10 positions throughout the weekend in the Quattro British Supersports Chanpionship.

Ben started race one from third on the grid and then after some great battling with the leaders bought the bike home in third place to gain our first podium in the first race of the season.A great result for him and the team.

Eunan, suffering with arm pump throughout the weekend, still managed to improve his lap times to finish in a creditable 8th place in race one and 9th in race two. He has made a good start in the Championship to be in 6th position considering this was his first race weekend on a Supersport bike.

Ben started from 7th on the grid for race two meaning he had some work to do to get himself to the front. He provided the entertainment with some awesome overtakes throughout the race managing to bridge the gap to 4th place where he stayed for some laps.

Edging nearer to third he managed to gain that position only for it to be taken from him on the line by just 0.104sec.

After some extremely exciting racing from Ben sees him and the team in third place in the Championship.

The team now move onto Round 2 at the Knockhill Racing Circuit.

Team Manager - Arron Phillips "I am very pleased and could not have asked for a better outcome from the weekend as despite some minor setbacks, both riders came through".